The Crystal Inquisition
Crystal Inquisition is a quest that can be started by talking to Princess Gumdrop in the Crystal Castle. The player must be graduated to start the quest. Quest initiation Upon talking to Princess Gumdrop for the first time, she presumptuously asks how the player incapacitated her guards and offers them a job: find "hate" and report the activity to her husband, Prince Overwatch, located on the castle's roof. Journal: While visiting the Crystal Kingdom, I wandered into the throne room of the Crystal Castle. There, I exchanged words with whom I assume is the sovereign of this land, and she told me to go see her husband, Prince Overwatch. I should probably do as she asked. I sense that all is not well. *''Find Overwatch on the roof.'' Prince Overwatch The roof where Prince Overwatch is can be accessed through a warp located to the left when exiting the castle through its main entrance. Alternatively, Pegasus ponies can also access the roof by flying. Prince Overwatch will talk about hatred and how "it can and does destroy nations", before ordering the player to report back to Gumdrop. Journal: I have had the honor of speaking with not one, but two royal ponies, and they still won't tell me exactly what is going on. Now I'm being told to report back to Princess Gumdrop. Hopefully, she'll give me some answers. *''Return to Princess Gumdrop'' A hateful argument While the player was having a conversation with Prince Overwatch, Princess Gumdrop was informed that there is a very hateful argument going on between two ponies, Horseshoes and Gemstone. The player is then tasked to hand over letters from the Princess herself to the ponies. Journal: I have once spoken with the Princess, and she has once again diverted me elsewhere. I am now to go to the Crystal Stadium to see about this business with Horseshoes and Gemstone. If I refuse, I'll be sure to keep the scrolls of parchment she gave me. *''Give the parchment to Horseshoes'' *''Give the parchment to Gemstone'' Crime and Punishment At this point, the player will be pointed to the Crystal Stadium where the ponies in question are found. Both ponies are having a seemingly heated conversation, and the player passes them the letters. It is then revealed in Horseshoes' letter that he is banished from the Crystal Kingdom forever while Gemstone's letter reveals that she is being sent to the rehabilitation clinic (for which she has to pay out of her own pocket). They then explain to the player what their "hateful argument" was actually about, proving that they were not arguing at all. Journal: The Princess tricked me! I have just unwittingly banished two ponies for committing the crime of hatred! I should go talk to her. *''Return to Princess Gumdrop'' History lesson When the player talks with Princess Gumdrop again, she will talk about the Crystal Heart before she proceeds to tell a story about how the Crystal Kingdom came to be through love and also explains how love is what keeps the kingdom from freezing, which is why hatred and intolerance are forbidden. She does not really listen to the player, and again asks the player to report any hateful activity to her husband. Journal: After explaining to me why the Crystal Kingdom punishes the crime of hate so severely, Princess Gumdrop instructed me to be on the lookout for any hateful activity and to report any I see to Prince Overwatch. *''Return your findings to Prince Overwatch'' Reporting hateful activity The player needs to talk to Prince Overwatch again, who then unveils a dark secret behind the true lawbreaker: it is none other than Princess Gumdrop herself who is in fact unwittingly spreading hatred by strictly forbidding it in the kingdom and punishing others for even the slightest hints of negativity, causing the "Warmth of Love" to grow weaker with each passing moment. Prince Overwatch states that he and the player have to stop Princess Gumdrop from enforcing her disillusioned idea of love in order to prevent the Crystal Kingdom from being overcome by snow and frost. The player then convinces Prince Overwatch that they can stop her with "logic", who remarks that he doesn't know how could the player "possibly make things worse". As such, the player must head back to Princess Gumdrop's throne room again and talk to her. Journal: I have discovered the truth - Princess Gumdrop is the most hateful pony in the Crystal Kingdom. After reporting her to Prince Overwatch, he asked me for my assistance in stopping her from destroying the Kingdom. I agreed, and am now on my way to the Throne Room to confront the dreaded pink pony. *''Confront Princes Gumdrop'' Confronting Princes Gumdrop At this point, the quest can go two ways; if the player chooses to side with Princess Gumdrop by telling her about her husband's plan to overthrow her, the kingdom's love-hate crisis will go unresolved and Prince Overwatch will refuse to talk to the player afterwards. Otherwise, the quest presses on and the player will be able to successfully undo the ongoing problem. The following occurs if the player stays on Prince Overwatch's side and scolds the Princess for her actions. Upon hearing the player's accusations of her being the pony who is spreading hate, Princess Gumdrop begins losing her temper and attempting to refute said accusations by angrily explaining the importance of love and claiming how only "lies" hurt and that "hurt" is just two letters short from "hate" - not even noticing that she herself is acting rather hateful and thus hypocritical - and demands the player to get out. Journal: I have confronted Princess Gumdrop and told her the truth about her policies. Not only did I fail to convince her, I seem to have made things much, much worse. I should go talk to Prince Overwatch to see what to do next. *''Talk to Prince Overwatch'' Understanding the issue The player must head to the roof once again, where Prince Overwatch will chide the player for their style of trying to tell the truth to Princess Gumdrop. He talks about the scenario with Horseshoes and Gemstone, and if the player shows that they understand what should be the right thing to do, he will advise the player to wait a day or two until the Princess cools off before talking to her again (although the player can head straight back to the Princess without any penalties) in a different way. Journal: I spoke with Prince Overwatch, and he advised me to try again at convincing Princess Gumdrop. I'm not sure what I'll say, but I'm sure I'll think of something. *''Try convincing Princess Gumdrop again.'' Quest completion The player returns to her and tries a slightly different approach at telling the facts. The Princess still does not budge, but Double Check and Sentinel both remark about Princess Gumdrop's insolent attitude and point out how she told everypony about name-calling being hateful, to which Gumdrop responds that she slipped up and is not perfect. Shortly after, Prince Overwatch appears and begins to rebuke the Princess, telling her that she is getting her status as Princess stripped and is being banished from the kingdom for being hateful. Princess Gumdrop is overwhelmed by Prince Overwatch's decision, realizing the error of her ways and apologizing for everything she had done. Prince Overwatch then reveals that he was only pretending to banish her, and while they continue their conversation, Double Check offers the player a formal apology and a monetary reward of one thousand bits, much to Gumdrop's chagrin - which the player can either take or leave. Upon completion of the quest, the player receives 500 XP in all talents. Journal: During my second confrontation with the Princess, the Prince himself intervened, pretending that he was going to banish the Princess! Being on the receiving end of her own system must have finally made Princess Gumdrop realize the error of her ways, and her and the Prince have promised to change the laws so hating is no longer a crime. Trivia * When this quest was first introduced in Open Server Event 11, it could not be completed as talking to Prince Overwatch after initiating the quest from Princess Gumdrop did not trigger any further response. Category:Quests Category:Crystal Castle